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Treatment of advanced thyroid cancer: role of molecularly targeted therapies

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Abstract

Advanced thyroid cancer is not amenable to therapy with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. However, newer advances in the understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of different subtypes of thyroid cancer have provided new opportunities for the evaluation of molecularly targeted therapies. This has led to multiple clinical trials using various multi-kinase inhibitors and the subsequent US FDA approval of sorafenib for differentiated thyroid cancer and vandetanib and cabozantinib for medullary thyroid carcinoma. This review provides a summary of the current literature for the treatment of advanced thyroid carcinoma and future directions in this disease.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Covell has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ganti reports personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, and Biodesix, Inc, outside the submitted work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Lorinda L. Covell

  2. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, Omaha, NE, USA

    Apar Kishor Ganti

  3. Division of Oncology-Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 987680 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-7680, USA

    Apar Kishor Ganti

Authors
  1. Lorinda L. Covell
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  2. Apar Kishor Ganti
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Correspondence to Apar Kishor Ganti.

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Covell, L.L., Ganti, A.K. Treatment of advanced thyroid cancer: role of molecularly targeted therapies. Targ Oncol 10, 311–324 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11523-014-0331-z

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